Obama llama farmer drama

Obama llama farmer drama
Blog: It's not only anarchists demonstrating in DC today...
1 min read
20 Jan, 2017
[Archive image: Getty]
The inauguration of President Donald Trump was always likely to attract dissent and protest.

As expected, many have been chaining themselves together at entrance points to the inauguration rally, having used the hashtag #DisruptJ20 to coordinate.

But there has also been a carnival-like atmosphere in some quarters, as activists make the most of the TV cameras across Washington to attract attention to a variety of causes believed to have been neglected under President Obama.

The trade justice movement has spent years calling for a greater priority for workers' rights and accountability in both international and local trade deals.

For too long, they say, global capitalism has put profit ahead of people - increasing economic disparity between rich and poor and blighting the environment.

As the corporate governance of many global industries shrinks into ever-more anti-democratic spaces and elite circles, it is transnational companies that tend to benefit from the exploitation of workers and the land.

In agriculture, small farmers are often the first to go out of business. These llama farmers have come to Washington to campaign against exactly that. President Obama failed to protect small farmers, say activists, and they want change.